More than 200 people protest in Coimbra for the right to housing

Mtwo hundred people gathered today in Coimbra to sing and dance for the rights to housing and the demonstration, condemn police violence and ask for the resignation of the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro.

It was after 7:00 when the protesters started singing and dancing to the sound of slogans like “I want roof, I want floor, I want right to housing” and “Oh Montenegro, pay attention, your houses will become occupation”.

On the posters held by the participants, the criticism of real estate speculation came across the challenge of police action, as well as the government.

“ I'm more afraid of Montenegro in power than I am of a dick. Quitting already”, “Violent is not being able to pay the house and still carry batonada” and “No house or respect is on the street I lie down”, were some of the phrases painted in pieces of card.

In the initiative, which took place on the day at the Assembly of the Republic in Lisbon, the discussion of the proposal of the Government of the State Budget to 2027 began, the 6% reduction in the budget for public housing policy was criticized by Fernando Teixeira, lawyer and member of the Porta a Porta movement, integrated into the platform Casa para Viver.

“It’s a disagreement, we’re experiencing an acute problem in access to housing and the government chooses to reduce what it has planned to spend on housing,” he said.

In statements to the Lusa agency, Fernando Teixeira also condemned “the repression of the right to demonstration and not let the attitude of violence that has taken place go into account”.

“Violence is the living conditions of many people!”, he lamented, also warning what he considers to be a path of confrontation between the government and the citizens who manifest themselves and who “will not bring anything good to the government”.

Among the protesters was also Luisa Francisco, 62 years old, archivist “in the only center dedicated to 25 April in the country”, who has lived in Coimbra for more than four decades.

Without his own home, he said to accompany the demonstrations whenever he can because he considers that Portugal has reached “the limit of real estate speculation”.

Also Luísa Almeida, a secondary school teacher, participated in the concentration, despite having own housing, acquired “with much sacrifice” 23 years ago, in the outskirts of Coimbra.

“ Here in Coimbra the price of houses, rents and rooms is glaring”, he said, explaining that he decided to go out for his three children and for his students.

“ I have this moral obligation to show that we should not be silent in the face of oppression”, he said.

On the other hand, João Nunes, 53 years old, held a poster with the phrase “Zeca: they force us to come to the street screaming”, in a reference to the musician and symbol of resistance to the dictatorship Zeca Afonso.

“ We have to fight for our rights and Zeca Afonso is the symbol of what our parents and grandparents have achieved,” he said.

For the protester, the housing crisis is only part of a wider problem and requires a collective response.

“ The housing is just the tip of the iceberg, and if we don't do anything, it's gonna get worse. We must defend what has been achieved”, he sustained.

To Lusa, the member of the movement Porta a Porta Fernando Teixeira also recalled that for November 14 is scheduled the demonstration “Home to live – They will not rob us of the right to live”.

The protest will extend through 15 cities: Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Leiria, Faro, Covilhã, Viseu, Nazaré, Braga, Beja, Évora, Viana do Castelo, Setúbal, Portalegre and Ponta Delgada.

During the morning of Sunday, PSP dispersed, with batonada and using dogs, the demonstrations for the right to housing in Lisbon and Porto, after more than two hours of tension and orders for people to leave and tents to be removed.

The demonstrators did not follow orders, invoking the constitutional right to the demonstration.

According to the PSP, there were 33 injured and 33 detained for disobedience. In a statement, camp organizations reported dozens of wounded.

The Internal Administration Inspectorate (IGAI) opened a process following police interventions that took place on Sunday morning in Lisbon and Porto. Also the ombudsman asked the PSP, urgently, information about the police load on Sunday morning about the protesters.

The leftist parties criticized the police intervention and asked for clarification from the Prime Minister and the intervention of the President of the Republic, António José Seguro.

The Head of State today called for dialogue on housing “and never violence”, stating that he did not like the images he saw, but that he awaits the results of the police investigations on protesters.

The protesters demand the reversal of the new rental law, the end of demolitions and evictions without an alternative housing, a stop to the purchase of housing by real estate funds, the increase in public housing, the recovery of vacant buildings for housing purposes and ceilings “truely accessible” to income.